“Biden Was Present During Multiple Dog Attacks” New Report Reveals About Commander
Photo: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty
Before being moved, the First Family’s German shepherd, Commander, earned a notorious reputation for attacking Secret Service members. According to a new New York Post report, President Joe Biden was present during three separate instances of Commander’s aggressive behavior.
In one documented incident on September 12, 2023, the Commander punctured holes in a Secret Service member’s suit while Biden was walking him in the Kennedy Garden along the South Lawn of the White House. “[Biden] opened the Book-Seller door and said [redacted]. As I started to walk toward him to see if he needed help, Commander ran through his legs and bit my left arm through the front of my jacket. I pulled my arm away and yelled ‘No!’” the victim wrote, according to the Post’s report. “[President Biden] also yelled [redacted] to Commander. [Biden] then [redacted]. I obliged and Commander ‘let me pet him.'”
The agent confirmed the dog seemed especially aggressive. “When turning to close the door, Commander jumped again and bit my left arm for the second time. [Biden] again yelled at Commander and attached the leash to him. My suit coat has three holes, one being all the way through. No skin was broken.”
In another incident on December 11, 2022, where Biden was present, the president reportedly “requested to take Commander (on the leash) to the Kennedy Garden,” records show. “Once at the KG, [Biden] took Commander off the leash to run free,” according to the victim’s report. “I was present to observe [redacted] departing from the Kennedy Garden to move behind [redacted] toward the south ground drive via the internal garden gate when [the attack] occurred.”
The agent detailed a half-inch cut and bruising on his arm and a roughly half-inch laceration caused by a second bite on his hand and thumb. On June 15, 2023, according to The Post, the Commander brought an agent “to the ground” outside the East Wing, taking a “deep bite” to their arm that required stitches. The Post recounts the incident causing East Wing Tours to halt “for approximately 20 minutes due to blood from the incident being on the floors in the area of the [lobby connecting the East Wing to the White House].”
After a September 25, 2023 bite, a sergeant in the Secret Service’s uniformed division wrote to a colleague: “FYI- there was a dog bite and the Officer may need to go to the hospital … Have a safe shift!”
Ultimately, the Commander was removed from the White House after more than two years of incidents involving staffers. CNN counted 24 documented instances of Commanders biting Secret Service agents, a number that might be conservative as it excludes additional incidents involving “executive residence staff and other White House workers.”
